EXPERT ADVICE

50 Great American Places to Visit This Summer

Wyoming: Surf the Snake

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Credit: Illustration by Kagan Mcleod

When the snow melts, Jackson Hole residents trade their snowboards for surfboards and ride one of the country's best surf breaks – 700 miles from the nearest ocean. On the Snake River, Lunch Counter is a four-foot stationary wave formed when water pushes into submerged boulders, rising and folding over itself in a perpetual loop. Brave the 48-degree water as locals lounge atop boulders. "If you don't catch it at first," says local surfer Kevin Keane, "it's always going to be there."

Getting there: Fly into Jackson Hole and head to Rendezvous River Sports to rent a surfboard for $30 per day. Snake River is just 10 minutes west of town, and most surfers jump off one of the riverside rocks right into the Lunch Counter on the far side of the river.